SNAPSHOT

Six things about SA you need to know

Jacob Zuma dumps attorney Michael Hulley

Former president Jacob Zuma has fired his longtime attorney Michael Hulley weeks before he is due back in court to face corruption and racketeering charges. Hulley confirmed on Monday that his mandate was “terminated” two weeks ago. "I am no longer acting for him in any of his current matters,” he said. He declined to comment further. Former Denel board chairman Daniel Mantsha‚ a known Gupta associate‚ is Zuma's new attorney. Mantsha resigned from Denel a few days after Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan was appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his first cabinet shake-up after Zuma was ousted.

Taxman names and shames Bafana’s Teko Modise

Ex-Bafana Bafana star Teko Modise is in trouble with the taxman. The South African Revenue Service said on Monday that the Cape Town City midfielder was on a list of delinquent taxpayers‚ along with a funeral parlour owner and an air-conditioning company boss. His agent, Jazzman Mahlakgane, confirmed that it was indeed the midfield maestro whose name was included in a SARS statement. “I have never in my history of living seen that you name somebody on the website that you owe SARS,” said Mahlakgane. SARS named and shamed 10 taxpayers who were convicted and fined after failing since April to submit outstanding tax returns. They were issued with fines ranging from R2‚000 to R20‚000‚ as well as admission-of-guilt fines, SARS said.

Cape dams filling up as another cold front nears

Another cold front is on its way to the Western Cape and could cause temperatures in Gauteng to drop by the end of the week. The cold front is expected to pass through the Cape by Thursday. The possibility of more rain will bring further relief to the province‚ where dams have recovered to an average level of 47.2% after a crippling summer drought. At the same time in 2017 the average levels were just 24%. Anton Bredell‚ MEC for local government‚ environmental affairs and development planning‚ said the recent rains had made a significant impact, but he cautioned that the province is not out of trouble yet. He urged residents to continue water-saving efforts.

Animal lovers fume over baboon hunting permits

Animal lovers and rights activists are up in arms over hunting permits granting permission to shoot two baboons a day. The permits were issued to two wine farms in Constantia, Cape Town in October 2017. The killing of baboons - seven of them to date - has sparked growing outrage among residents after the local Constantiaberg Bulletin newspaper revealed that baboons were being shot at their sleeping sites and that some had been forced to flee into residential areas‚ where they were injured‚ shot or attacked by dogs. Distressed Capetonians have started a Facebook petition to “demand the end of the horrific baboon cull in Cape Town”. CapeNature conservation communications manager Marietjie Engelbrecht said they approved the hunting permits “as a last resort to mitigate human-wildlife conflict”.

Strike shuts down Post Office, union claims

Wage negotiations are continuing between the SA Post Office and the Communication Workers Union, whose members downed tools on Monday. The union’s general secretary, Aubrey Tshabalala, said the strike had caused a national shutdown at the Post Office. Tshabalala said unions were meeting employers in Johannesburg to find a solution to the impasse. “The strike got a huge support,” he said. Tshabalala said that there had been no salary increases at the post office for two years straight, which led to the strike.

Cape businessman kidnapped at gunpoint

A 65-year-old businessman was grabbed by five men at his business on Monday‚ Western Cape police have said. "According to information‚ the victim was driving into the basement of his business premises in Stairway Close‚ De Greens‚ Parow‚ when an unknown double cab LDV followed and at the gate [the suspects] forced the security guard at gunpoint into the toilet where they took his cellular telephone and locked him up. They then continued into the basement where they forced the businessman into their vehicle and drove off‚" said Captain FC van Wyk. The businessman was named as Layaqat Allie Parker. A case of armed robbery and kidnapping is under investigation. The spate of kidnappings of wealthy businesspeople for ransom in SA has raised serious concerns‚ with experts warning of a looming crisis if police are unable to clamp down on the crime swiftly and decisively.

SNAPSHOT

Oh my dear! She must be thigh!
Belarusian people jump over a campfire as they take part in the Ivan Kupala festival in Belarusian state museum of folk architecture and rural lifestyle near the village Aziarco.
Image:
Reuters/Vasily Fedosenko

SIX THINGS ABOUT THE WORLD YOU NEED TO KNOW

She says ‘I do’ again with a ring of fire

As wildfires destroyed dozens of homes and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents in California, at least one couple had a bit of good news. Ishu and Laura Rao searched the ashes of their incinerated Santa Barbara County home on Sunday and found their prize: Laura’s wedding and engagement rings. She had taken them off before going to sleep Friday and had no time to retrieve them when the couple escaped the fast-moving blaze with Ishu’s two daughters, their three dogs and a cat, said Mike Eliason, a spokesman with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. The married couple of eight months were escorted back to their property Sunday to hunt for the rings. Ishu dropped to one knee, put the rings on her finger and proposed all over again. - Reuters

Banksy gets rat up their noses in Paris

British graffiti artist Banksy, known for his politically charged sketches on walls from London to New York to Gaza City, has descended on Paris, painting a series of murals that are sparking debate. The satirical images tackle issues such as migration and poverty. One mural, on a street where migrants often sleep rough, shows a black girl spraypainting pink wallpaper over a swastika. Others depict rats, a common Banksy motif, including one flying through the air on the back of a champagne cork, and a pair walking under a parasol near the Eiffel Tower. One of the most provocative shows a stern man with a handsaw hidden behind his back offering a bone to a pleading dog that has had part of its front leg sawn off. - Reuters

Another deadly nerve agent mystery

British police rushed to solve a murder mystery on Monday after a woman died following exposure to the nerve agent Novichok, four months after the same toxin nearly killed a former Russian spy in an attack that Britain blamed on Moscow. Dawn Sturgess, a 44-year-old mother of three who had been living in a homeless hostel in Salisbury in southwest England, and Charlie Rowley, 45, fell ill last weekend in the town of Amesbury, near Salisbury, the city where former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were attacked with Novichok in March. They have since recovered. The Kremlin said it would be “absurd” to suggest Russia was involved in the death of Sturgess. - AFP

Wolf-whistlers and cat-callers beware

Police across Britain should treat abuse and harassment of women as a hate crime, activists said on Monday, citing a rise in public support for the shift after the #MeToo movement triggered a deluge of complaints about misogyny. Campaigners are urging police chiefs to follow the lead of Nottinghamshire Police, which in 2016 became the first force in Britain to record public harassment of women - from groping and explicit language to sexual assault - as a misogyny hate crime. An open letter co-signed by charities, academics and faith leaders asks the National Police Chiefs Council to vote this week to record misogyny as a hate crime nationwide, which could lead to tougher sentences for public harassment of women. In an analysis of the shift in strategy by Nottinghamshire Police, more than 90% of respondents had experienced or seen abuse and harassment of women on the street. Two-thirds said they had changed habits, such as dress sense and transport, to avoid abuse. - Reuters